Insects have long presented problems to human populations. Insects are known to carry various diseases and spread these diseases across both human and other animal populations. The diseases spread by insects are well known and there have been numerous attempts at developing effective products to combat the health problems associated with insects.
Besides the serious disease causing problems attributable to insects, the animals also present a general nuisance to humans attempting to engage in recreational outdoor activities. For instance, insects are a common pest at family picnics and outdoor sporting events. The nuisance of insects is also acutely felt when persons engage in leisurely outdoor enjoyment such as swimming in a pool, sunbathing on a deck, congregating with friends on an outdoor patio, and when attempting to barbeque outdoors.
Thus, it is evident that insects present numerous problems, both health wise and as a general nuisance to humans.
Because of the problems associated with insects, people have developed numerous strategies for both: killing them with the use of insecticides and repelling them with the use of repellants.
One goal of an insect repellant, is to control the behavior of an insect by directing or repelling the insect away from locations in which its presence is not desired. People are better able to enjoy outdoor recreational activities when insects have been effectively repelled away from the area.
To date, most insect repellant technology has focused on chemical agents. These chemical repellants rely upon application of the active ingredient to the skin of a human or to a designated area such as clothing. Often, these chemical repellants suffer from one or more drawbacks including: (1) toxicity if over applied, (2) allergic reactions in susceptible (3) diminished efficacy as a function of time since application, (4) detrimental environmental effects, (5) irritants of the eyes and respiratory track-especially chemical repellants applied as an aerosol, (6) costs associated with continual application, (7) small area of effective insect control.
Therefore, there is a great need in the art to develop insect repellant technology that does not suffer from the drawbacks associated with chemical based insect repellants. In particular, the art suffers front a lack of insect repellant technology that is suitable for repelling insects away from large outdoor spatial areas, e.g. decks, patios, and pool areas.